The present invention relates to slat wall structures, and in particular to a slat wall structure with a profile which accepts and permits mounting of various different types of support brackets.
Interior product-display walls having a horizontally extending slat-like appearance have come into increased usage and are quite popular as of the present point in time in commercial establishments, since they provide a convenient and highly useful way to display and/or store a variety of different consumer products. This is accomplished through the use of shelf-support or other such brackets that interfit with and are nestingly received by various types of projecting flange-like wall sections or edges that extend horizontally along with and typically define the edge extremities of the horizontally extending xe2x80x9cslatsxe2x80x9d comprising these walls (which are typically formed as an integral part of a multi-slat panel that can be secured to a wall or otherwise vertically supported, and either be fixed or movable).
Examples of two different types of such commercially successful slat wall structures which are made of metal may be seen in prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,698,565 and 4,429,850 (which are related) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,295 (all incorporated by reference herein), which involve laterally elongated sheet metal structures which are bent or otherwise shaped longitudinally to form generally flat, horizontally extending wall sections which are spaced forwardly of support flanges or the like and which have a horizontal slat-like appearance when supported in vertically spaced relation to other such xe2x80x9cslatsxe2x80x9d or slat wall structures. In the ""565 and ""850 patents just mentioned, a plurality of such xe2x80x9cslatsxe2x80x9d are formed from a common elongated sheet of material, and thus together comprise a sort of panel which has vertically extending, rearwardly located wall-like sections as well as the forwardly spaced xe2x80x9cslat-likexe2x80x9d sections. In the ""295 patent, the preferred embodiment depicts individual slat-like sheet metal components that are mounted upon and supported in place by vertical hanger strips that are mounted upon various types of vertical supports such as interior walls, columns or studs.
Each of the two different types of metal slat wall mentioned above may be thought of as being generally characteristic of known types of such structures which are presently available commercially, but they have particular profiles which differ considerably from one another in a specific sense, and each is used with a particular and different kind of shelf support bracket (also illustrated in such patents). The support bracket used with the ""295 patent is basically of a type generally considered to be the xe2x80x9cstandardxe2x80x9d slat wall bracket, but the ones shown in the ""565 and ""850 patents are considerably different. As is evident upon even casual consideration, each of these two different types of brackets are so different from one another that they could not possibly be used on the opposite type of slat wall. Accordingly, two distinctly different and completely separate types of support bracket and shelf systems have developed over time, each usable on only one of these two different types of slat wall structure. Therefore, purchasers and users have been significantly restricted in their available choices once they have purchased one or the other type of slat wall system.
The present invention recognizes the practical problem created by the mutually different slat wall systems described above, and provides a solution for the user/consumer, by which either of the two different types of support bracket in common usage may be used on the same type of slat wall. More particularly, the present invention provides a new and highly useful slat wall configuration or profile which will securely and supportively mount, and retain in place, either of the two different types of support brackets mentioned above. Accordingly, the present invention provides a universally useful new slat wall configuration which will free those who have previously invested in one or the other type of prevalent slat wall configurations described above, allowing them to purchase and use shelf supports or other such brackets of either type, depending upon their needs and desires, thereby greatly extending the usefulness of the systems in which they have invested and generally prompting competition as well.